Opinion page editor Rick Holmes and other writers blog about national politics and issues. Holmes & Co. is a Blog for Independent Minds, a place for a free-flowing discussion of policy, news and opinion. This blog is the online cousin of the Opinion
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Opinion page editor Rick Holmes and other writers blog about national politics and issues. Holmes & Co. is a Blog for Independent Minds, a place for a free-flowing discussion of policy, news and opinion. This blog is the online cousin of the Opinion section of the MetroWest Daily News in Framingham, Mass. As such, our focus starts there and spreads to include Massachusetts, the nation and the world. Since successful blogs create communities of readers and writers, we hope the \x34& Co.\x34 will also come to include you.

As the delightful possibility of a government shut down looms, we’ve been monitoring the consequences of a shut down on things that really matter to my clients, including access to the federal courts. We’ve been getting emails all day from the federal agencies in both the courts and the Pentagon, not to mention regulatory agencies that we deal with around the country and around the world, and the bottom line is this–if a shutdown happens, it won’t matter. So much of the machinery of government is based on ongoing funding that it is becoming increasingly clear that only luxuries are really on issue. not only should the shut down happen, but we should use this opportunity to fire anybody who is kept home, since clearly they aren’t performing a vital function. Oh, by the way, Obama is not required to switch from Air Force One to a bike for the duration.